U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,221 to Seymour, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a wireless thermostatic control system including a door sensor to detect whether a room door is open and a sensor to determine whether a room is occupied, with two thermostatic controls: one for a room occupant and one for an energy saving setback mode when the room is not occupied, as detected by an infrared sensor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,406 to Fried, which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a power saving unit containing a timer and two time delays. It also assures room security by requiring the door to be properly locked before particular electric loads will be energized.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,819 to Bost discloses the use of a control box mounted adjacent to a door which must be activated by the room user, permitting the user to control the thermostat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,290 to Suzuki, et al., discloses an air conditioner which is controlled based on illumination detected by a photo detector.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,162 to Evans discloses an improved automatic energy temperature control system for a room involving a second thermostat which uses less heating or cooling, with the second thermostat activated by the entry or departure of persons from the room, sensed through a switch responsive to the presence of a door chain.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,763 to Tietze discloses an air conditioner having a control system arranged to start operation of the fan and the cooling circuit in response to a person entering the room, and to stop operation of the fan and the cooling system in response to a person leaving the room, as determined when a hotel guest unlocks the door of the room.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,961 to Rodriguez, Jr. discloses a means for preventing unnecessary expense in a heating, ventilation and air condition system by using two thermostats, one with fixed limits for ambient temperatures accessible only by authorized personnel, and the other having variable limits actuated to override the fixed limits when an infrared motion sensor unit detects movement and activates the variable limit thermostat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,224 to Darby, et al., discloses an energy efficient system for controlling heating and cooling equipment in which the system can be operated at various levels depending on whether motion is detected or a control signal is received from a telephone.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,181 to Simmons, et al., discloses an air conditioner/heater which automatically turns off the power when the room is unoccupied, with minimal installation costs and rewiring, having a digital timer.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an apparatus and system for deactivating an air conditioner or heater when a window or door is open or when a room is unoccupied that requires minimal installation time, especially of electricians.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such an apparatus or system that avoids unnecessary wear upon the compressor unit in an air conditioner.
It is astill further object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus and system that uses readily available components.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide such an apparatus and system in which the system controls may be located anywhere within a building.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and system that separately controls the evaporator fan and the compressor.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus and system in which malfunctions can be easily and quickly diagnosed to reduce the costs of repair and maintenance.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus and system that can be easily and economically installed by a person of limited skill.